Discursos y tensiones sociales en Colombia sobre la moralidad, modernizacion y ?Deber ser? Femenino en el cine silente y publicaciones periodicas durante el periodo de 1886-1930 = Discourses and Social Tensions in Colombia About Morality, Modernization and “Duty” Being” Feminine in Silent Cinema and Periodical Publications During the Period 1886–1930.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This research project utilizes critical analyses of morality, modernity, and the idea of the deber ser (“ought to be”) of the woman in Colombia during the period of the Hegemonia Conservadora (1886-1930), during which time the main processes of modernization took place in the nation. In this dissertation, I study how the arrival of the cinematographer changed the social, cultural, and visual practices of Colombian society. At the same time, I interrogate how different conservative groups worried about and reacted to the "immoral" topics represented in these films, while also examining the relationship between the cinematic image and the modernization of the country. Additionally, this study analyzes the ways patriarchal/heteronormative society utilized different media and moral discourses to set standards for women’s behavior in the public sphere through the use of advice columns, photo spreads, advertising, comics, and cinematic images. I explore the conservative discourses of moral principles and good behavior evidenced in periodicals from the end of nineteenth century to 1930. Furthermore, my study analyzes lifestyle magazines from 1886 to 1930 to explain how women of the period were involved in the economy of consumption to become what I call the “mujer de toilette” ("woman of the toilette"). This study establishes a relationship between female stardom, beauty pageants, articles, and advertising (related to or addressing women) that demonstrates how women of the period were tasked with being aesthetically pleasing to males while also being controlled by the patriarchal norms. Finally, through analyses of some of the silent films made in Colombia during this period, I focus on the representation of the “ought to be” of the women in these narratives, where the genre of melodrama played an important role in the moral education of both male and female spectators. Throughout this project, I examine how the modernization period transformed the lifestyles of Colombia's inhabitants during these formative years.